Making/recieving calls/texts intermittent and unreliable - 5 accounts

[BladedThoth]

So, our family migrated to Public Mobile a while back. It was good for a while, but we are having more and more issues.

We have a total of 5 accounts/5 numbers. 2 Samsung S10, 1 iPhone 8plus, 1 Umidigi A9 Pro, and 1 Samsung S9.

What is occuring now, is we have to try 2 - 10 times to get an outbound call to go. It will fail often. We tried toggling airplane mode, no avail on any. If we reboot, sometimes it will work for a while, but after 1 call in or out, it starts occuring again.

Texting is the same story. Sometimes we won't get SMS for days, and MMS is horridly unreliable. Sending, we will get continuous "Undeliverable" messages as well.

We have swapped SIMs around between devices and even some older clunky phones. All do the same thing.

For testing, we swapped phones with a Telus user, and they had no issues with being on Telus, but even using their phone, same issue.

I have rooted through the forums here and haven't found any details on how to fix or that worked.

Any suggestions would be great! I'd hate to leave PM. 😞

[hTideGnow]

@BladedThoth   If you data is working well on LTE, then yes, VoLTE would be the solution.    

Wifi Calling would be another help from Telus and Koodo, we don't have it here 😞

[BladedThoth]

Yeah rural can be fun. As mentioned above, I came from Telus and it was pretty solid. Even PM was solid for first 3 months, but really sagging now. I am starting to suspect that the comments about VoLTE might be right, if resources are being pulled away from these towers and their HSPA+/UMTS in favor of LTE/VoLTE.

I really don't need buckets of data; I'm lucky if I push 3GB, and rest of the phones are 1GB-3GB. What we need though, are functional phones.

Thanks for your input @hTideGnow - Just hoping for an answer from PM. Don't want to leave PM unless I have to.

[hTideGnow]

HI @BladedThoth   Telus does not have solid coverage in that area.  I think you should consider moving to other better provider.  Even Koodo or Telus might be better as they have VoLTE.  But check with your neighbours to see who has better reception there

[BladedThoth]

No, it seems to happen off of these two towers, and pretty much anywhere along where I live. I am Manitoba but closest city (Brandon) is about 200km away.

[hTideGnow]

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@BladedThoth wrote:

Still no answer from public mobile from my ticket either...

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HI @BladedThoth   Reply the ticket you have earlier and ask them for an update

But you are getting better reception if you are in other area?  

And you are in Manitoba?

[BladedThoth]

I actually got a cellular mapping and tracking app. I seem to sit on the LTE Band 5 all the time here, but I also see UMTS 850MHz but I also see 1700/2100 from our towers in the area as well.

The tower that is 2 (short) blocks from me, LTE 4/5 reporting; Tower 3km from me shows LTE 5 and UMTS channels.

Still no answer from public mobile from my ticket either...

[darlicious]

@gpixel 

Thats not entirely correct. Telus still has sharing agreements with bell in Manitoba outside of Brandon and Winnipeg.

[gpixel]

@BladedThoth 

Telus must have started decommissioning more 3g towers in the area. Telus only has access to 3g band 2(1900mhz) in Manitoba. you have two options. 

• buy a cellphone booster(needs band 2-1900mhz) without a cellphone booster the 1900mhz frequency has a hard time penetrating through walls etc.
• switch to lucky mobile if you would like the same plans etc. lucky is bells version of PM and is not affected by the 3g(850mhz) shutdown that occurred last year. 

[darlicious]

@BladedThoth 

Where in rural Manitoba? Close enough to either Winnipeg or Brandon? The "Manitoba" issue primarily affects users in the above mentioned cities however there was one customer about 40 km Northeast of Winnipeg with a similar issue who had a signal booster installed. Once we discovered that the installer managed to point it in the one direction that had no cell towers for at least 100 miles the issue was resolved once redirected. If an outage is not the issue and its your 3G signal strength this may be an option you want to consider....you can even make one yourself!

Test your 3G signal by switching to 3G only in your mobile network settings and then go to About phone>>Sim card status>>signal strength> below -100dBm is poor and below -110dBm is probably the signal you have for both 4G LTE and 3G (pm voice calls use the 3G network only vs bell/telus).

[BladedThoth]

Thank you softech 🙂

[softech]

@BladedThoth it asks for Community login in the beginning.  Then at the end,  it will be asking for your My Account login 

Maybe try direct message instead

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

**Monitor your Community inbox (envelope icon on the top right) after the ticket is opened. CS Agent will reply you there

[BladedThoth]

Want a good laugh? Ticket wants me to sign in with my community account. Will not accept the same credentials I just signed in and out with here, and also tried my PM account log in just in case. Just keep getting errors. 2 browsers.

[hairbag1]

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@BladedThoth wrote:

Thanks all. This is sort of frustrating that it wasn't indicated when joining. I live about 3 small blocks from a tower. Others with Telus and BellMTS are fine ....

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They're likely using Voice over LTE (VoLTE)

PM isn't that far advanced yet, sadly !

[BladedThoth]

Thanks all. This is sort of frustrating that it wasn't indicated when joining. I live about 3 small blocks from a tower. Others with Telus and BellMTS are fine (They share towers rurally, or did.)

[softech]

@BladedThoth 

I think Telus has weaker  coverage in MB.

i think it is time open ticket with PM and see if they can confirm any network issue in your area

1. If you have access to My account: At https://publicmobile.ca/chatbot.

Start by typing "Submit a ticket", then click "Contact Us", Then click "Other", then click "Click here to submit a ticket ↗" 

2. If you don't have access to My Account or have trouble with Chatbot: Private message CS Agent at: 

      https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

**Monitor your Community inbox (envelope icon on the top right) after the ticket is opened.  CS Agent will reply you there

[hairbag1]

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Reduced-Voice-Coverage-in-Manitoba/m-p/64...

[DDM69]

Is it possibly a connection area issue?  Maybe a weak signal in your area or something affecting disrupting your signal?  Dead zone?   It seems strange that this affects all 5 devices.  Have you installed anything lately that may impact your signal? 

See if you can research the location of the towers and speak with neighbours that may be using a different service.

[hairbag1]

Here's some info from last year regarding PM service in the "peg / Brandon areas....

Hoping to help clarify some questions around the HSPA changes happening in Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba on March 16, 2021. 

What is the impact?

Only customers in Winnipeg and Brandon will be impacted. Only certain Hz bands will be changing, which will impact the quality of voice calling and service. Data speeds will remain unchanged. 

What should impacted customers do?

This is a TELUS wide change. At this time, Public Mobile does not support VoLTE. We are looking into enabling it; however, this is not an easy solution to turn on and launch timing is unclear. In the meantime, we strongly suggest impacted customers move to Koodo or TELUS postpaid and make sure they have a VoLTE compatible device.

Impacted customers in Manitoba can contact 1-866-975-3058 for support on plan changes.

Why is TELUS migrating from HSPA to VoLTE?

With VoLTE customers will get:

• Superior network experience
• Simultaneous use of voice and LTE data
• High definition sound quality when calling another VoLTE-enabled device
• Faster call setup time

For more information on what VoLTE is, you can visit the following article from our friends at TELUS.

Edited Feb 8, 2021. 

View solution in original post

[BladedThoth]

@hairbag1 Rural Manitoba.

@softechAs noted in original post, we have swapped SIM cards, and even swapped to and from a different carrier.

All of our friends who have Telus here have 0 issues.

[softech]

@BladedThoth there şeem to be network issue last couple days.  Try changing the preferred network to 3Gonly.  

Or try to put a aim card from one phone to another to trigger a sim re-provision

[hairbag1]

Where are you located ? Are all phones in that same locale ?

I'm in BC Interior and don't have the same problems with my calls as you describe.